The Renewed
by Moony Smith
Summary: Forgotten by many because of a fatal accident, an incredible, young Auror makes her recovery to return to defend those who are pure and defeat those who are evil and plan on taking over the wizarding world as she knows it. Heading back to Hogwarts is the
1. In The Beginning

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Summary: Forgotten by many because of a fatal accident, an incredible, young Auror makes her recovery to return to defend those who are pure and defeat those who are evil and plan on taking over the wizarding world as she knows it. After a horrifying encounter with the Dark Lord and his minions, she wants revenge for what they did to her life. Unfortunately, things don't go her way, that is, until she's brought back from the grave by an all-powerful force of good. Given the right to rid the wizarding world of evil, she exercises her powers; even if it isn't in the most appropriate way. As she tries to get back her life from the one person who stole it and wants more of her life, Lord Voldemort, he causes more problems, bringing her to that fine line between sanity and insanity and then back. Heading back to Hogwarts was the first step to regaining her life; the second will be to defeat the crushing evil that has been stalking her and her family and friends for years. Will she be able to defeat this evil and its master? Or will it finally take her… forever?

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Disclaimer: I only own my character and her pets…. Maybe her house, but I'm going to have to run that by my sisters for approval. Therefore, I own very little in this story. I don't own anything in this story that's been copyrighted. I blame my world cultures teacher for this though…. If I hadn't had to write a myth this wouldn't have happened. Enjoy it though.

NOTE: See the Author's Note at the bottom. It's semi-important.

~ MOONY SMITH

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The Renewed

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Rise and shine, sunshine, it's ten in the morning and time for you to face the day!" Sirius bellowed, throwing open the curtains and blinding the room's occupant.

"Sirius, what the hell are you doing waking me up on a weekend?" the lump hiding under the covers moaned.

"Waking you up, like Remus said."

"And the time is…?"

"Ten AM," he chirped.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am Sirius, now get out of bed before I bring in the heavy artillery."

"I'VE GOT FOUR MORE HOURS TO SLEEP, WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED NORMAL ARE YOU DOING!?" the lump cried, throwing the heavy Mexican blanket off of itself to show the upper torso of a very angry brunette.

Sirius winced and put his hands up in a sign of surrender, backing towards the door.

"All I'm doing is waking you up like Remus told me to," he complained.

"And why couldn't he have come up himself?" she asked, reaching over to her night table and grabbing a hairbrush. She returned to her sitting position and started to brush out her thick and extremely curly hair while giving Sirius the evil eye.  


"Well, err…. You didn't come down for breakfast, so…"

"Yes? Keep going, Sirius, before I decide to turn you into a fly and squish you," she warned.

"HebroughtyourbreakfastoutandfedittoStella," he gasped.

"Say what? That wasn't English."

"Of course not, it's Siriusish."

"You've got to the count of ten."

"But, but…"

"1, 2, 10.… YOUR REAR-END IS MINE!!! YOU ARE NOT GETTING OUT OF THIS ALIVE! WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU, YOU'RE GONNA BE IN A BODYCAST FOR THE REST OF YOUR FREAKING LIFE AND YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SIT FOR A YEAR AFTER THAT!!!!" she screamed as she jumped out of bed and ran into the door, which Sirius happened to slam in her face. She opened it quickly and shot after Sirius, who was charging down the stairs.

An evil smile alit on her face and she used her telekinetic powers to pull all of the knives out of the drawers and have them all facing the door Sirius would come running into.

Of course, Sirius came shooting in the door, but he stopped and stared when he saw his impending death hovering in front of him. The girl had snuck in behind him and casually leaned on the doorframe.

"This is where we say, "Oh shit"," Sirius complained.

"You may say it, Sirius. Nothing's going to happen," the brunette replied.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."

"Wow, is that all, Siri?"

"For now, yes."

"Alrighty then, your ass is--"

"Good morning, Winnie," a voice said from behind the Daily Prophet.

"Oh, good morning, Uncle Remus," Winnie exclaimed. She had forgotten that her uncle would be up at this time in the morning.

"Are you being nice to Sirius?"

"Of course I am. I'm just playing Tag with Siri," she said and then slapped Sirius hard on the back of the head. "See, Tag, you're it!!"

"Then why the wall of knives?"

"It's just an illusion, Uncle Remi," Winnie called over, making wave signs with her hands.

"This isn't Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and I am not going to fall for that. I was not born yesterday. Now, apologize to Sirius," Remus sighed, tired of having to deal with the two of them and wishing for a bit of quiet time for himself.

Winnie turned, and with the faked innocence of a young childe, put on her best puppy-dog eyes and said, "I'm sowwy, Siwius. I wuv you."

"Yeah, right," Sirius snorted, "like I'd believe that act for a second. Besides, you aren't sorry and I know you don't love me."

"You're right."

"I'm always right."

"No you aren't, Sirius!" Winnie cried.

"The two of you stop it!" Remus exclaimed, slamming his paper down onto the table in frustration. "I want the two of you out of my sight for one hour."

Remus went back to reading his paper as Sirius strolled out of the kitchen door and then to make his way up to his room. Winnie, meanwhile, started to stare intently at the back of Sirius's head and then smiled.

Her uncle glanced over his paper at her and then went back to reading it, sighing because he knew something was bound to happen.

All of a sudden, a tremendous crash resounded from the entrance hall. All that could be heard after this crash was an audible thump and then Sirius.

"WINNIE!! I'M GONNA GET YOU!!!"

Remus just looked over his newspaper at his niece, who happened to have made her breakfast, which was a big bowl of cornflakes mixed with light cream and enough sugar to keep a herd of two-year-olds hyper for a lifetime, and sighed, "You just had to knock Sirius out with the door, didn't you?"

"He deserved it," she calmly replied.

"I did not you LITTLE WITCH!!" Sirius loudly exclaimed from the entrance hall.

"Why thank you, Siri. I passed Hogwarts with flying colors," she said.

"Then why was McGonagall in a body cast, muttering that she never wanted to see the holy terror again?" Remus replied.

"Umm…. Do you really want to know, Uncle Remi?"

"Yes, I do, Winnie. She is, after all, my colleague."

"ShewaschasingCadanceandCatiandthetwoofthemjumpedoutofthewindowandlan-dedinthemoatandwheneverMcGonagalltrieditshejumpedoutofthewindowandlandedonabigcementblockbecauseIwantedtoseeifIcouldmakeapileofleaves," she replied in a breath.

"You didn't make sense at all. Now, out of my sight for an hour, at least," Remus sighed, and then replied as she was walking out of the kitchen door, "And no more powers for two weeks."

She froze and accidentally dropped her cereal bowl, which was now empty because she inhaled the flakes, and whirled around, staring at Remus like he was King Arthur, dressed in a big pink and neon green polka-dotted dress.

"Did I hear you right?"

"Yes, now hand over every wand you own…. And even the ones that you use as bun pins, the "magic" pencil that is actually a writing wand, the trick wands, and even the light saber that Yoda added a wand to," he said calmly, holding out his hand so Winnie could put all of them in his hand. She scowled at him and then turned to start walking out of the door again.

"Oh, and Winnie? Please refill the sugar bowl. I know you put all of it in your cereal today."

"Yes, Uncle Remus," she sighed.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Winnie walked out into the garden and, making sure that no one was watching, levitated herself over to the center of a small labyrinth that was in the Lupin's backyard. It was the day of the poker tryouts. A few benches were full of people. Darth Maul, Darth Vader, Darth Sidius, and Anakin Skywalker each sat in the exact same position on the same bench and, when she walked by, they all waved at her at the same time. She waved back at them and walked past a few benches, waving at the occupants.

One bench held Blade and a few other vampires bickering about Quidditch scores. She stopped and looked at Blade.

"Blade, is that a tan I see?"

"Yes it is, Winnie," he said proudly.

"Are those shorts I see you wearing? Is that what I think it is on you, or are you doing this just to get me mad?"

"Actually, I gave up hunting vampires because there were too many of them. I decided to go to the Bahamas for a few months and I came back a new man….errr…. Vampire."

"Blade, hon, YOU AREN'T A BAD GUY!!! THIS IS A BAD GUY POKER TOURNAMENT!!!!" Winnie screamed.

Blade looked taken back and quietly said, "I just wanted to see what all of the hubba-ba-loo is all about. Bad guys seem to get so much credit these days that I just want to try."

"Ok then. I'm sorry I yelled at you…. I yelled at Anakin when he went bad, too," she said, bending down to give him a hug. "Sink your fangs into me and you won't have them when you wake up--" she glanced over at the other vampires and pointed at them "--and that goes for the rest of you. Hell hath no fury like a brunette on a mission."

The other vampires glanced at her with horrified expressions on their faces and then started whispering to each other, looking at Winnie every few seconds.

"Oh shut up already. The lot of you remind me of a bunch of teenage school girls who are drooling over an upper classman. And besides that, you guys are vampires. You remind me more of birds than vampires! You know what I should do to the bunch of you? I should put you in one of those bird cages. Oh, and how come you aren't sizzling to death?" Winnie asked.

"Sunscreen does wonders," a vampire with straggly black and red hair replied gravely, but with an attitude resounding in his response. He was wearing a black leather jacket and black leather pants. Black eye shadow was put heavily around his eyes and his lips were painted black. His skin was almost pure white, but was cold and dry instead of warm and soft. His hand, which had a ring made out of human bone with a jewel in the shape of an eye in the middle, and black painted finger nails, reached up and moved his greasy hair out of the way and rubbed a tattoo on the back of his neck. The tattoo consisted of a skull that had a snake coming out of its mouth. The ring was glowing a deep blood red.

"Oh, well, keep it up chaps," Winnie called and sauntered away happily.

"Now what the hell was her problem?" The gothic vampire, Nesbitth, asked.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Nesbitth stood up slowly and crept quickly to the end of the labyrinth, which was about 1000 feet away from the center and even more from where he was sitting. Two cloaked riders on jet black steeds with red eyes were waiting there. The riders were covered in long, black cloaks that covered all of themselves, plus a bit of the horse. Each held a heavy, long, two-handed sword that had a jewel in the center of each. Both jewels were in the shape of an eye. Both riders had on black gloves and a harsh breathing could be heard from both of them. One of them looked off in the direction that a high, feminine laughter could be heard and pointed in that direction with his sword. His partner looked in the direction he'd been pointed in and started his horse forward slowly. The other rider hissed and shook his head, bringing the flat of the sword in front of his partner's horse. The rider hissed and growled back and then obediently stayed in their positions until a black-clothed being came into sight.

The riders' horses tossed their heads impatiently and stamped their feet. Leather and steel covered the horses for their saddles, bridles, and other tack. In the middle of the horses' breastplate, there was the same eye jewel as on Nesbitth's ring and the riders' swords. On the left flank of each horse, there was a silver Dark Mark burned into their flesh. Ringlets of smoke arose from these Marks and slowly rose into the air. An evil laugh rung out from the shadowed forest behind them and the horses' eyes rolled back so that the whites could be seen and one horse, which was a young filly, half reared until her rider brought a sharp smack to the filly's shoulder with the flat of his blade. The filly quieted down, but still fidgeted underneath of her rider. Her rider hissed at her and she immediately calmed, but had a wild and scared look in her eyes.

A black beast prowled the edge of the forest until it seemed ready to approach. A growl came from deep in the animal's throat and he agilely trotted up to the riders. The creature was huge, about the size of a St. Bernard, but fully black with red eyes that bore into everything. The Grim looked up at the nearest rider and snarled at him. The rider reached down and savagely kicked the beast. The thing growled and snarled, but did not attack. Around its neck was a thick leather collar with sharp, poisoned spikes protruding from it in various locations. In the very middle of it, was that same jewel. This jewel, however, was already a deep blood red and the dog was foaming at the mouth in anticipation. Someone was to die soon. Very soon.

* ~ * ~ * ~

Nesbitth ran up to them, fell to his knees at the riders' sides, and gasped for a few seconds. Then he finally stood up, brushed himself off, and bowed low to the ground.

"My lords, I have gotten information on the Auror and White Lighter, Winifred Herst. She is to be at the poker game for a long while and then she will be in the barn all by herself. I am thankful that you and Lord Voldemort have accepted me," Nesbitth said confidently and rose up a bit in a half bow.

**"Yes, you have done us well,"** one rider hissed. **"We must repay you for your help and for taking our side."**

He nodded to his partner and backed his horse up, which was the filly.

The other rider trotted up to Nesbitth, and while Nesbitth was still in his semi-bow, raised his sword high and replied with an evil laugh, **"Thank you for your services, young Nesbitth. We must now kill you."**

Nesbitth raised his head a bit and gasped, a horrified look taking over his face.

The rider laughed and brought the sword down in a swift, deadly blow.

Nesbitth watched as it was brought down towards his neck, but was too shocked to move.

The rider continued his downward blow and took off the vampire's head. The head rolled a few feet away and hissing could be heard coming out of the dead vampire's body and head. The face had the same horrified expression.

The Grim lunged forward and began to feast ravenously on the body, its eyes turning redder by the moment and its jewel getting darker with evil intent. The creature's spiked collar was soaked in blood and began to drip, sizzling as it hit the ground. The beast stopped for a second, snarled at the riders, and then lifted its blood stained muzzle up to the sky, which had darkened tremendously, and howled a long, cold, death-filled howl and plunged its head back into the dead body.

The riders' horses reared and then were pushed into a fierce gallop by a swat from the black riders' swords. The creatures plunged into the woods heavily and the hard galloping faded away.

The Grim had nothing left on the body but a leg or two, eating bones, metal, and everything on the body. It picked up the remaining part, which was a bloodied waist, and rushed off in a fast-paced trot, head held high and tail held out like a dark and foreboding flag.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * 

She walked along, waving to the other occupants of the benches. One bench had Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Werewolf all discussing hair, tooth, and skin care along with gardening. The Wicked Witch of the West, Lestat, Randall Flagg (who looked like he woke up on the wrong side of the cage), and a few ghosts from Rose Red sat on a bench bickering about the death penalty.

Winnie finally reached the poker table and greeted Winston the bogeyman, Tom Marvolo Riddle, and Indrid Cold by kissing them each on the cheek. Jeepers Creepers and the Mothman looked up at her expectantly and she walked over and patted them both on their heads. Mothman purred and chirped at her, while Jeepers just glared at him and growled.

"Be nice, Jeepers," Winnie warned.

"You try playing with him," Jeepers complained. "All he does is chirp, shriek, caw, and purr. Plus, he cheats!! I've lost £100 because of him!"

Mothman narrowed his orb-like eyes and sent a stream of chirps, squeaks, shrieks, and R2-D2 noises at him.

"He's right, Jeepers," she replied. "Just because you're a sore loser doesn't mean you have to pick on him."

At this, Mothman rubbed his head against her and purred. Winnie picked up a sugar cube and tossed it over to him. He caught it and audibly munched and slurped it up, purring enthusiastically. She walked over to the next person, who happened to be Winston.

"Morning, Winnie," he called over his shoulder. "How you doing, lass?"

"I'm doing fine, Winston," she laughed, remembering his heavy Irish accent. Winston was two years older than Winnie and was in his twelfth year of being a bogeyman.

Indrid reached over and tugged on her hair, "What, no salute for the general, my dear?"

She scowled at him and saluted him.

"How's that, General Cold?"

"Very good," he replied in a thick American accent.

"When are you going to go back to the States?"

"Next month, I have to. I have relatives to visit, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas."

"Can Mothman stay with me?" she pleaded.

"How about I give him to you as a Christmas present? He needs to stay in one place and Americans don't agree with his stomach."

"REALLY?!"

"Yep, he's all yours."

"Thank you, Indrid. You're the best!" she cried and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. She then bounced over to Tom's chair.

"Morning Cutie," he said, reaching his arms around the back of his chair and hugging her.

"Hey hon. You winning or losing?" she asked while hugging him back.

"The only one winning here is Winston," he replied, throwing scones at Winston. He missed each time and Stella, Winnie's border collie, sat behind Winston and caught each scone, nearly swallowing them whole.

"Hey guys," Winnie said, "I hate to say this, but I have to go. Uncle Remus wants me back in a few minutes for an 'important' meeting."

"You lost your powers again, didn't you?" Jeepers questioned.

"Yes, I did. You know, you know me better than the back of your ass," she replied.

"Of course I do. It's my job."

"I hate you, Jeepers."

"Winnie, you hate everyone," Tom shot at her.

"Of course, but I love you guys and Uncle Remus though," she smiled.

She trotted away alone, as Stella was getting scones as treats and Mothman was too busy beating Jeepers. Winnie got to the house and heard a loud commotion coming from the inside, so she peeked through the window to see Remus busily throwing food away and Sirius scooping it out and wolfing it down.

"Sirius, that's how you get sick and die!" she replied as she waltzed through the door and opened the kitchen door's window. "Of course, not that I'd mind. It would be very peaceful without you terrorizing me."

"ME!?! THAT'S WHAT YOU DO!" Sirius tried to shout through his food, but it only came out as muffled barks.

She just looked up at him and picked up an over-warmed sausage sandwich and casually tossed it out of the window.

"FETCH, SIRI!!" she called, watching as he bolted out of the door and after the sandwich.

"Winnie, thank you. I've been trying to get him to throw something away for the past two hours. Oh, and two of your old school friends are going to be dropping by soon," Remus called out from inside of the refrigerator.

Before Winnie could even react, two small pops sounded off in the kitchen and Cadance appeared sitting on the counter with Cati standing next to her.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my," Winnie gasped. "CADANCE AND CATI ARE HERE!!!"

"WINNIE!!" the two girls shrieked in unison as they flew over to the other side of the room and hugged Winnie (actually, nearly strangled her) tightly.

"Winifred Catherine Hessien," Cadance began in a very McGonagall like way and putting her hands on her hips, "where the hell have you been?"

"You really want to know?" she sighed.

"Of course we do, Winnie," Cati replied. "We've missed you and haven't heard from you since our last year at Hogwarts. That was the last time we heard from or about you. You're 25 now; we want to know what happened."

Author's Note: This is my first actual fic. Yes, it does go in circles at times. Yes, it is hard to follow, but I'm going to put in a character synopsis for all who might get lost. It gets really hard to follow in the following chapters, but it has a lot of humor in it.


	2. The Story of Survival

Winnie sighed and began her story slowly, "Well, when I got off of the train and drove home in the old Caravan. I made it there, but I had left Galahad at Hogwarts because I wanted Dumbledore to care for him. Anyways, I made it home and I noticed that my family wasn't outside to greet me, so I went inside. Before I went inside, I noticed that Baklava, my old buckskin, was standing close to the pasture-kitchen door and staring into the house…. Which he never ever did. The whole house was trashed and wrecked to beyond recognition. I dropped my backpack onto the living room couch and walked through the kitchen because I smelled something horrible. So, I traveled through the kitchen and then down the hall to my parents' room. The smell was unbearable as I got closer. I nearly fainted a few times because of the stench, but I held my ground and only vomited a few times. I heard buzzing from the room and when I looked into my parents' bedroom, they were in bed, dead. I knew that something would be wrong at my house, but I didn't really think so, because Professor Trelawney taught me lampadomancy, which is reading a lamp flame. What I read had said that immediate danger will happen to those you love dearly. I thought nothing of it, since I knew that my Uncle Charlie was going to be going through a heart and lung operation and I knew he wasn't going to survive because his father didn't survive the same operation. Anyways, I walked into their bedroom and I noticed that flies were crawling all over their bodies and maggots worked their way through the flesh. I remember vomiting again after seeing that and then hearing sudden pops as a handful of Death Eaters apparated into their room. Each of them pulled out a wand and aimed the wands at me. Voldemort popped out of nowhere and came towards me. He was talking about my powers, being his bride or sacrifice, my dead parents, my stupidness, naiveness, etc. Finally, he sicked a Death Eater on me and I ran towards the barn, falling over the couch and banging myself into things. The Death Eater never got me, however. Then, I rode Baklava and jumped him over the fence and into the woods, away from evil. A few days later, he collapsed and died of heart failure. A week after that, I died. I was brought up to the Council of Light and they decided that I needed to be back on Earth. They said that my powers were suited for saving the wizarding world, not playing poker with. Well, I was playing poker with a really hot White Lighter named Leo. Cadance, you would have loved him. He taught me how to do this," at this statement, she pulled a sword out of the air and split it into two swords, then continued, "He also taught me how to play blackjack and poker with some of his demon friends. But anyways, I was sent back, but no one would take me in. All of my family had basically died. My close relatives and even distant relatives were mostly Muggle, so Remus came to watch after me. And this is where I am now."

"So, what about the blinding white robes and such?" Cadance asked, smiling devilishly.

"White?"

"Yeah, white."

"WHITE?!"

"Yes, Winnie… WHITE!"

"Hell no," Winnie laughed, pulling out a wand. "Am I crazy enough to go with the flow? No, no, no, no, NO! Would you like to see my robes?"

"Sure!" Cati piped up, smiling.

Winnie smiled evilly and took a few steps backwards. She pushed her arms up and out to her sides, where she brought them up to her head.

"Are you sure you want to see this?" Winnie asked innocently.

"Yes!" Cadance cried, clapping enthusiastically.

"Ten Galleons says that Winnie doesn't have white robes," Cati snickered to Cadance.

"Ten Galleons says that Winnie doesn't have regulation white robes just to SPITE the Evil Demon that heads the Council of Light," Cadance said in reply.

"You're on!" Cati cried, pulling out her wallet.

Winnie smiled at the two of them and brought down her arms, letting them fall to her sides. As her hands passed her torso and fell flat onto her thighs, her outfit came into full view for the world to see.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WEARING, WINIFRED!!??" Cadance yelled, amazed at what Winnie was wearing.

Winifred was wearing a black leather body suit. It wasn't at all loose, but it wasn't the nice breathable cotton either. The suit itself had two slits going across the stomach and mini slits throughout the pants section. It had a tank top section, but that was covered by a black cotton jacket. Winnie had high, black English riding boots on to accompany the whole suit. She wore black leather gloves and had a black leather scrunchy in her hair.

"Winnie, what is that?" Cati asked, staring at her in awe.

"The Council of Light actually had this hidden in the back of a closet, so I stole it and now I'm wearing it," Winnie said easily, smiling at them.

"Geeze, you look like a sl--," Cadance started, but Cati slapped her hand onto Cadance's mouth.

"Why did they let you have that?" Cati inquired slowly.

"It got me to shut up," Winnie giggled.

"I dare you to walk around like that!" Cadance cried enthusiastically.

"Alright, I'll wear it today and on the train ride into Hogwarts," Winnie laughed.

"Hey, I saw a path leading into the woods," Cati began. "Can we go into it?"

"How about I race you two sloths down to it on horseback?" Winnie asked mischievously.

"I'm up for that!" Cadance smiled.

The three girls went running down towards the barn, where Winnie proceeded to mount one of the already saddled horses, which was a big bay mare. She took off towards the woods.

Cadance accidentally ran into a stall door, falling backwards and then opening the door to reveal a large, angry, black gelding. The gelding snorted at her and tried to bite her, but Cadance just grabbed the reins and mounted, running into the wall on the other side of the gelding. Then, she kicked him to get him moving, only to find out that he was an ex-racehorse. She hung on for dear life as the gelding shot out of the stall and towards the woods.

Cati, on the other hand, remembered some of the horses that Remus had told her about. She rushed into the largest stall and mounted a white mare. The mare immediately started forward at a trot, heading into a gallop as Cati kicked her in the ribs. She followed Cadance into the woods.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Cadance and Cati caught up to Winnie, but Winnie's mare headed deeper into the woods at a fast paced canter. All of a sudden, Winnie stopped her mount and looked eerily over at the other two girls.

"Look at that!" Winnie cried, pointing down through the woods.

"Winnie, hon," Cadance started, "That's nothing but WOODS!"

"No, look further. Do you see the path?" Winnie asked softly.

"I see it. It leads up towards that way," Cati said gently, pointing up the path.

"Let's follow it!" Winnie cried, kicking the mare into a canter.

Winnie flew down the path, heading towards the hidden path. Cadance and Cati kept up, but at a trot. Finally, Winnie stopped dead at the head of the path and started to walk her horse down it. It sort of spiraled down and some of it was actually underground. They all stopped when they saw a pool of blood and marks in the dirt.

"It's metallic, see?" Cati pointed out. "That means that it's dragon's blood. Plus, it's goopy."

Cadance and Winnie nodded at her and Winnie started the little group off at a trot. Finally, they reached the bottom, which was concealed by trees and bushes.

Winnie dismounted and gave her reins to Cadance, softly saying, "Cadance, stay here and watch my horse. Watch Cati's too, if she's coming."

"Warn us if something's wrong, alright, Cadance?" Cati commanded, dismounting and tossing her reins to Cadance.

Cadance watched excitedly as Winnie and Cati snuck through the bushes.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

The two girls stumbled upon a camp in the middle of a huge field. They didn't see anyone out walking around, so they crept into the middle of it, watching everything that could harbor enemies or just about anything dangerous. The field was about 200 feet on each side; it was a square field. It had a few small trees and bushes, but the one tree in the middle was the best one out of all of them. The rest of the field was grass and a few dirt patches, but hundreds of tents filled the first fifty feet of each side of the field.

Cati didn't stop in any tents, but she did glance into one tent that was left open. There was a small, cot in it and a rusty hammer and nail. She sped up to match Winnie's pace.

Winnie pointed to some fencing made out of rope. The fencing was over 50 feet long and had another line ten feet behind it. There were hundreds of horses saddled and tied to the rope. Many of them glanced at the two girls and snorted. The rest just kept munching on grass. All of the ones that were looking at the girls had red eyes.

"Winnie, what are you going to pilf?" Cati asked softly, checking for anything and everything.

"I was going to take one of those horses, but they look really evil," she replied.

"Those are Ringwraith horses!" Cati cried, suddenly shushing herself.

"At least Cadance hasn't sent us a warning. We can go back now."

Right as Winnie had said that, a huge boom caused the two girls to jump. They both looked in the direction where Cadance was. The bushes that hid her were gone. She waved sheepishly and then pointed past Winnie and Cati.

The two girls looked behind them and saw about 50 Ringwraiths running towards their horses. The girls looked at each other and then took off running towards Cadance.

Winnie tripped on a root a and went crashing to the ground. She cursed and then looked behind her. Many of them were just mounting their horses.

She looked in front of her to see Cadance and Cati moving towards her.

"GO! I'LL BE FINE!!" Winnie cried, pulling herself up off of the ground.

She broke out into a hard run as she watched Cadance and Cati galloping up the hill. Winnie cried out as she watched her horse trot towards the path.

At the last second, the horse turned and started trotting towards her. She let out a sigh of relief, but then realized that that wasn't her horse, it was Cati's.

"Dammit, Klarrissa," she cursed at the horse, "why can't you ever follow your rider?"

Klarrissa picked up her pace and whinnied happily to Winnie. Winnie just glared at the horse and waited until she could launch herself onto the horse's back.

She did so, and then promptly kicked Klarrissa into a hard gallop. Klarrissa snorted in protest, but obeyed and pulled out in a tight semi-circle, just coming within meters of the first approaching Wraith.

Winnie headed towards the path and tore up it, kicking up dust and small rocks as she went. A stream of riders followed her uphill, whipping and kicking their horses into faster gallops.

Klarrissa turned right at the top of the path, but Winnie jerked her to the left. Klarrissa never really liked not doing things her way. She always refused what the riders commanded her to do, no matter what. Although, Klarrissa was terrified of loud noises. Winnie smirked when she remembered this, and pulled Klarrissa into a halt. The horse stood there and shook her head, relieved to be standing and relaxing.

All of a sudden, a loud bang sounded out of nowhere. Klarrissa rose into the air, pawing and whinnying out of fright. Winnie pulled the reins hard to the right, causing her to spin to face the immortal foe.

Four Wraiths were plummeting down the path towards them. The others had vanished, or else turned back. They had their swords pulled out to the sides, and were closing in quickly.

"Shucks, what now?" Winnie sighed, holding Klarrissa steady, even though the mare wanted to bolt.

Klarrissa's eyes shown white and she fidgeted, watching as the four black steeds pounded towards them.

Finally, they got close enough for Winnie to let loose the signal. She kicked Klarrissa's sides and turned her sharply to the right. The mare bolted and charged down the empty path in front of them.


End file.
